Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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EMERSON, LAKE and PALMER

UK progressive/techno rock band formed in 1970 by Keith Emerson (b 2 November 1944, Todmorden UK; d 10 March 2016, Santa Monica CA, a suicide), a keyboardist who had made his name with The Nice, plans for a band with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell having fallen through: he recruited King Crimson bassist Greg Lake (b 10 November 1947, Bournemouth; d of cancer 7 December 2016, London), also an accomplished vocalist; the guitarless trio (in Nice fashion) was completed with ex-Atomic Rooster drummer Carl Palmer (b 20 March 1950, Birmingham). First gig was the Isle of Wight festival '70; eponymous debut LP accomplished if somewhat sterile, made no. 4 UK/18 USA helped by (USA only) single 'Lucky Man' (no. 48 '71). Tarkus '71 with cover art depicting a ferocious half-tank, half-armadillo was a more aggressive effort: no. 1 LP UK/9 USA made them superstars. Live Pictures At An Exhibition (rocked-up Mussorgsky) was no. 3 UK, 10 USA; the live act featured a portable stage with proscenium, Emerson's visuals (stabbing the Hammond organ with knives, etc).

Their fame grew with Trilogy '72, Brain Salad Surgery '73 (first on their own Manticore label, supported by quad sound and a tour with 36 tons of equipment). Singles including 'From The Beginning' (no. 39 USA '72) tended to be Lake's introspective compositions, while Emerson's flamboyant keyboard was the band's trademark sound. Live triple LP Welcome Back, My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends: Ladies And Gentlemen, Emerson Lake And Palmer '74 was followed by a break in tours and UK solo hits: Lake's 'I Believe In Father Christmas', Emerson's instrumental 'Honky Tonk Train Blues'. Band's comeback '77 was a disappointment: albums featuring solo material Works (two-disc Vol. 1) made no. 9 UK/12 USA (worst seller so far in UK), Vol. 2 (one record) did much less well; a 70-piece orchestra recruited for the tour was laid off except for the biggest gigs due to poor ticket sales; Emerson's attempt to record his own piano concerto with London Philharmonic during a sabbatical failed. Meanwhile the emergence of punk made them look like dinosaurs (as it was meant to do). Soft-rock Love Beach '78 made no. 48 UK/55 USA; final In Concert set '79 followed by split. Emerson wrote film scores The Inferno '80, Nighthawks '81, etc; Lake made solo Greg Lake '81, then replaced John Wetton in Asia, the supergroup Palmer joined when his own group PM foundered; Emerson and Lake re-formed with ex-Jeff Beck/Whitesnake drummer Cozy Powell for LP Emerson Lake And Powell '86: more of the same. Two-CD From The Beginning '97 on Castle was a Lake retrospective including Crimson, E.L.P. and solo tracks.